For the 20th century, there were key points in modern history when fashion had raw strength in defining a period. It is those moments when fashion represented the mood of the public with utter clarity, giving distinct looks that helped shape its timeline presence. One can go on and on covering what each decade brought forth, be it the rebelliousness of the flapper and abrupt departure from the past restraint that women were expected to endure was captured in the free shapes void of corsetry and full of jazz swing or the grandeur, abundance and later high art sculpted sweeping luxury with conforming order and structure to give a very adult 50s silhouette.
What is important to know is how our dialogue is struggling to find new words to say who we are, and for now repeating and requoting, reclaiming past memorable points, we look for the right jumping point as we try to find what we want to say next.
This is a tricky approach. If one were to look at fashions of the future portrayed in past decades, some aspects are captured but the bulk of the expression is hampered by limitations of what is in existing consciousness. In looking at such anticipations of the future from the past, the predictions tend to aim for the borderline unwearable and impractical, with aesthetics too costumey to be acceptably integrated in any functional aspect of society. The closest we have come to dressing like far-out fashions from mid-century visions of the future were more confined to the nightclubs of the 70s and 80s, and eventually we outgrew that phase in favor of more basic attire, subculture inhabitants notwithstanding.
However, for us to find a new voice sometimes means revisiting the fantastical and the 80s certainly had a lot of that. The rise in technology and higher experimentation of cut and drape was something the Japanese brought forth, something this blog has before has indicated. New materials and new forms were admired, and many techniques are now the foundation of many collections that have come out in recent collections while others have been perennial mainstays of technique as fast fashion takes advantage of low pay scales from developing nations and better technology to offer new standards of base sophistication in design that we come to expect. And yet the appreciation of that era has limits. Case in point is the kind of coverage the Tokyo collections received now versus last year.
In the 80s, the explosion of new talent merged with technology gave Tokyo an opportunity to make a case for itself as a major player, and for a while the Big Four became the Big Five. Its relevance waned in the face of economic realities but the 80s revival reopened the door to appreciation of that market, especially as markets such as Stockholm and Berlin were given attention in the face of lackluster inspiration from the Big Four; after all, there is only so much practical cuts and minimalism one can look at before developing a wandering eye seeking new inspiration.
The problem for Tokyo is that it’s prime players are part of the Big Four, and what’s left ranges from de rigueur trend checklist regurgitation to hyper-conceptual Harajuku looks that can’t seem to escape from the 80s heydays when it once almost ruled the world, albeit excellently executed. While there are some interesting ideas in spots, those are few and far between mired in a cacophony of nostalgic excess that did in 80s fashion the first time around. In the media, the tested and true already chokes the calendar of the Big Four so we don’t need to see more of the same or more conceptual academic approaches and thus Tokyo gets bypassed. Ironically, while fashion may be inspired by Japan it doesn’t appreciate the source and the place that provided the jump forward in fashion in its heyday needs a jumpstart itself to move past its own nostalgia.
Another issue as we look to continue excitement and move our culture forward is the existing economic climate. To support that level of everyday embrace of whirlwind experimentation that decades such as the 20s, 60s or 80s had we need to have healthier economies, and tech developments disseminated with ease in our connected world are showing an uncertain future that can’t provide the footing for that kind of confidence needed to accept the more academic experimentation that comes from some of Tokyo’s design community. How can we excite a public to participate beyond practical selections when the news of accelerated robotics and outmoded career fields flood the news channels, instilling uncertainty of where we will be or what we will be doing?
So, just as we hang onto nostalgia and the wonderful memories they produce to jump start our creativity, we wait for honest clues on what our future in general will be. The one thing we can say for now is that we have limits on how creative we are willing to let our fashion be, and the limits seem to be confined in the tested and true balanced with some envelope-pushing. And if Tokyo can get this while riding the tech wave it is normally known for, it could have those days in the sun back again. Meanwhile, it’s back to the Big Four while the rest in the world have yet to earn more than a cameo lifted from the incubation of memories of better days.